Hello
by i-have-a-llama-army
Summary: When Legolas and his mother are saved from the band of men that have kept them captive, Legolas is the only one of the two who has lived through the ordeal. With all of the kingdom trying to save Thranduil from his grief, will they be in time to save his son?


_Hi guys! I am i-have-a-llama-army and this is my first fanfiction. I have had the idea for this fic for a while now and it was one I could write up pretty quick, so I thought it would be a good start. The song in this story is "Hello" by Kelly Clarkson, and the cover image is a pic of Thrandy and Leggy I drew myself especially for this story. Also, thank you to Issy,a guest reviewer who suggested that I extend the ending to the story to make it less abrupt. Thanks for your advice! I added more to the end, so I hope it is better. Also thanks to Biery5 for your review. Hope you enjoy!_

_Yes I stumbled into the night__  
__We're touching but I feel like you are still out of reach_

Legolas stood next to his father, looking out among the people of Mirkwood. They all had their heads bowed, and his father was saying something, but he could barely hear it. All that kept running through his head was a memory that he could not he could not fight.

"_Legolas," his mother breathed, wiping the tears off his face from where she laid on the ground. "I love you, Greenleaf. I love you so much…"_

_"Nana!" he said, grabbing one of her hands in both of his. Her eyes began to slide shut. "NANA!"_

"With time, we have begun to heal, and son we will be able to be the prince and king you deserve," Thranduil said, grabbing his son's hand and raising it up. "We shall be the kingdom we were once again!"

The people cheered, but Legolas was barely aware of his father's hand.

_No, Ada. You may h_ave _begun to heal, but you weren't there, Ada. You weren't there._

_The people here are buzzing like a bug on a light__  
__I'm feeling like I always see them, but they can't see me_

_Legolas sprang up in bed with a scream._

_"NANA!" he cried, letting the tears rundown his cheeks. "Nana…"_

_He slowly got up, knowing he would be able to sleep no longer. He silently left his room, shutting the door and sneaking towards his father's chambers, hoping to find comfort. However, a guard greeted him at the door._

_"My Prince," he said. "What are you doing here so late at night?"_

_"I want to see my Ada," Legolas said, hoping this one guard could see past the calm façade he was wearing, that this one guard could see his bleeding soul._

_"I'm sorry, my Prince," the guard said, and the cold tone broke Legolas's heart. "Your father is sleeping, for the first time in days. No one is allowed to disturb him." The underlying tone of his voice said, 'you foolish elfling. Your father is in pain. Leave him be!'_

_'I'm in pain too!' Legolas wanted to scream. 'He wasn't even there! I was!'_

_"Okay, hannon le for watching over him," Legolas said regally, marching back to his room mechanically. Standing by the window, he couldn't even appreciate the beauty of the sunrise in his despair._

_Sentimental feelings__  
__Never get me anywhere__  
__My heart continues beating__  
__Is there anybody, anybody? Hello?_

_Sitting in his chair at a small council meeting, Legolas didn't know what to say. The lords of the kingdom entered and filled their places at the table, but one seat remained empty. His father's. After a few minutes of waiting in a tense silence, Legolas cleared his throat._

_"I am here on my father's behalf for this meeting," he said, trying to sit up tall enough to seem commanding. "Let the meeting begin."_

_As the people began to talk hesitantly, Legolas nodded and spoke when spoke to, knowing it was one thing he could do to keep his mind of his pain. After all, sitting there in his room doing nothing, as he had been doing, wouldn't get him anywhere._

_Legolas sat at the desk across from his tutor, who was talking about something or other, and he flipped through his book absentmindedly._

_'Death among elves is very uncommon, but it is possible. Elves can be killed in battle or by grief…'_

_Grief. That was what people told him his father was feeling, and what he decided he was feeling. Elves could die from it? Maybe that was why he felt himself becoming more disconnected from the world every day. Maybe he was fading. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was the only way to escape his pain._

_Hello,__  
__Is anybody listening?__  
__Let go! As everyone lets go of me__  
__Oh oh, won't somebody show me that I'm not alone, not alone_

'_No one cares about how I feel, Legolas thought forlornly. 'My mother just died, and all people do is go running to make sure my father is alright.' He laughed mirthlessly, and the cold sound filled the air._

_Niethran, his tutor and caretaker and confidant, had cancelled their lesson again today. He was also a fairly talented healer, so he was helping to take care of the king. What he didn't know was that it was the prince who needed him more than the king._

_Yeah I'm coming through this desert of stone__  
__These faces on the statues that I used to know__  
__Wishing I was more than what my story has told__  
__Or hoping that I'm dreaming in the day and this isn't happening_

_All of the faces blended together for Legolas. His tutor, the guards, the servants, the cooks, they all gave him the same look or pity. He didn't want pity, he wanted someone to hold him, he wanted his father to hold him, and tell him it would be alright. But he hadn't seen his father since he had been rescued, since his mother had been found dead._

_He used to know everyone in the palace by name. He used to greet them with a big smile every morning. But now he brushed them off like leaves in a breeze. They would give him nothing but pity, so he had no choice but to distance himself from them._

_Gotta keep it all together__  
__Longing for a hand to hold__  
__Keep clear on the shadows__  
__Is there anybody, anybody?_

His heart ached. He wanted his naneth. He wanted her to stroke his hair and hold his hand and sing to him in her soft, silky voice. But it would never happen again. Never, ever again.

Never again.

He lay on the bed, with no tears, no whimpers, nothing. Silence. His naneth was gone forever, and he finally knew that no amount of crying would bring her back.

"Nana," he whispered, remembering how pale and cold she had looked in her coffin, surrounded by flowers. "Nana…"

_Hello, hello__  
__Is anybody listening?__  
__Let go! As everyone lets go of me__  
__Oh oh, won't somebody show me that I'm not alone, not alone_

It was dark outside his window, and the moon had just passed its peak position in the sky. It was a little past midnight.

He knew that this might be his only chance. Swinging his little legs over the bed, he knew it was probably be the last time he would do it, but for some reason, the thought didn't make him sad. He was…_relieved,_ actually. He was relieved he could stop all of this emotion and let go of whatever it was that was holding him here.

Leaping silently over his balcony into the balmy night air, he stepped light-footedly onto a nearby tree and ran across it with confidence. He jumped to the next tree, and the next, and the next. The minute he touched them they saw his intent and began to protest loudly, but he ignored them and continued on, until he reached the one he was looking for.

It was a huge oak in the center of the forest, which he and his parents had visited many times when he was younger. Sliding down the rough trunk onto the ground, he pressed his forehead to it, sending memories. He knew if anyone would understand the tree would.

_'You have been through much since I last saw you, penneth,'_ the tree said sadly. '_I just wish there was a solution other than the one you have in mind.'_

_'I have thought long and hard about this,'_ Legolas replied. '_In my mind I can see no other solution. Seeing her lying there at the funeral today made me decide.'_

_'Alright,'_ the tree said. '_I believe you when you say there are no other options. Rest easy, Greenleaf, for I shall inform the others of your kind what has happened. You will be more sorely missed than you realize, I fear.'_

Legolas laughed, a hollow, empty sound that rang throughout the clearing. The surrounding trees shuddered in fright at the change of the innocent elfling they had once known into this emotionless creature.

_'No one shall miss me,'_ Legolas told the tree, and he lay with his head upon its roots. '_I wish I didn't know what was happening, that I was as innocent as they think I am…'_

It was time.

_Holding on to the memories of when I, I didn't know__  
__Ignorance isn't wise but it beats being alone_

It was the sunny morning after his wife's funeral when Thranduil finally came out of his grieving state. He knew that although the crying and anger of the past two weeks had done nothing to help his kingdom, but now that he was on the road to recovery, things could only improve.

Sitting up, he yawned and stretched, feeling keenly the absence of his son and wife. Legolas often slept with his parents, but Thranduil didn't remember having seen his son at all over the past few weeks, other than at the hour long ceremony the day before, but his son had been strangely silent throughout the ordeal.

Getting out of bed, the king of Mirkwood dressed and decided the first thing he would do was visit his son. He couldn't imagine what his precious Greenleaf had seen when he and his mother had been captured, and he cursed violently and doubled his speed as he thought about what his son must have been going through over the past weeks, without his Ada beside him.

He reached up and knocked crisply on his son's door.

"Legolas?" he called. There was no response. "Legolas?" Still nothing.

"Legolas, ion-nin, I'm coming in," he said, pushing the old wooden door open and wincing as the hinges squealed.

"Ion-nin?" he said, taking in the room. It was empty, and there was no sign of the toys on the floor that usually marked the room as an elfling. His breath caught in his throat.

The door to the balcony was open, and there was no one standing upon it.

_Hello,__  
__Is anybody listening?__  
__Let go! As everyone lets go of me__  
__Oh oh, won't somebody show me that I'm not alone, not alone_

Thranduil felt his heart beating frantically in his chest as he and a few members of the Royal Guard rode away from the palace. The whole castle had been searched, and there was no sign of his ion.

Placing his hand upon the first tree he reached, he conversed with it quickly.

'_Have you seen my son? Has he passed through here?'_ Thranduil asked, and the tree replied, seeming anxious.

'_Yes. The prince came through here a few hours ago. You must hurry; he may already be lost…'_

'_Thank you,'_ Thranduil said, his worry growing. _'Where is he now?'_

'_The oak in the heart of the forest,'_ the tree said, sounding distressed. _'You must hurry your majesty! You must fly!'_

Thranduil did not grace the tree with a response but instead urged his horse into a gallop toward the old oak.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

_Hello,__  
__Is anybody listening?__  
__Let go! As everyone lets go of me__  
__Oh oh, won't somebody show me that I'm not alone, not alone_

Thranduil saw his son and leaped off his horse toward his only child.

His little leaf's face was so pale, so pale. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow. Thranduil touched his cheek, which felt like ice.

The rest of his party rode up behind him and dismounted, hurrying over to him. One of the healers, named Torion, ran over and knelt beside the prince, taking his pulse.

"He is fading…" the healer said, taking in the young elf's appearance. "…from grief."

Thranduil made a sound of distress and grabbed his elfling in his arms, cradling his tiny body.

"We must get him back to the palace, my lord," Torion said, leading the king's horse to him and guiding Thranduil onto him. "You bring the prince, my lord, and speak to him, tell him you love him. Ride fast and do not stop until you get there, or you may lose him."

Thranduil galloped off without a word, Legolas in his arms.

"Get me a healer!" Thranduil yelled as he entered the gates of his home. "Get me a healer NOW!"

Many elves gasped at the sight of their dying prince in the arms of his father, and they ran to get a healer. The head of the healing elves appeared, having run down to meet his king, and took Legolas's body from him carefully.

"Come, my king," he said, already on his way back to the palace. "We will need you to bring the prince out of his grief."

Entering one of the rooms in the healing wing, the head healer placed Legolas on one of the beds, pulling a sheet over his still form.

"Talk to him, my king," he said. "He can only be saved by hearing the voices of those he loves."

"Legolas…" Thranduil whispered brokenly. "I'm so sorry, ion-nin. I should've been there for you. This is all my fault.

"I was so caught up in my grief, when I should've been supporting you as you were supporting me. You are my reason to life, penneth. I need you, Greenleaf. Please come back to me."

Thrandul did not try to stop the tears running down his face. "Please come back."

There was no response or any movement in the pale face. Thranduil held his breath, but nothing happened.

Nothing happened at all. The healer returned.

"My king," he said, looking sadly at Legolas. "You could not get him to wake up?"

"No," Thranduil said, not taking his eyes from his son. "I have spoken to him, I apologized for leaving him alone, but he would not respond."

The healer paused.

"I think, my king," he said, looking at the far-too-pale prince. "That you should instead talk about the future, about hopeful things. About how you two will get through this hard time together." He paused.

"I do not think he blamed you, anyway."

Thranduil blinked in surprise and looked up at the healer.

"I knew the prince pretty well, my king, because whenever he hurt himself I was the one he would come to. My name is Herethin." Thranduil nodded. He had heard Legolas talking about Herethin before.

"If I know the prince, my king, I think he will not blame you. I think that the reason he gave into grief was because people kept keeping him from you. He does not blame you for the actions of others, I think."

Thranduil thought for a minute, then nodded. He knew what to talk to Legolas about now.

"I shall leave you," Herethin said. "I know you would like to talk to your son in private."

Thranduil nodded his thanks, and Herethin smiled at him, walking toward the door. He paused before he reached it.

"Please save him, my king," Herethin said quietly. "Everyone here in the palace loves him too much. It would break us to lose him."

Thranduil nodded in stunned silence. It brought tears to his eyes to think that the servants in his home knew his son better than he did. Herethin nodded in reply and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

"You know what, ion-nin?" he said, turning back to his son. "I have realized something, talking to your friend Herethin. I realize that I do not spend enough time with you. I don't tell you I love you enough, Legolas.

"I think that now that your naneth is gone, Greenleaf, I will spend more time with you. I did not realize the need for this until now, but I promise I will bring you into the forest or the gardens or training grounds, wherever you want to go, penneth. We'll do whatever you want to do that day. I promise, ion-nin, he whispered, placing a hand over the cold one belonging to his son. He squeezed it tightly.

"I promise. I love you, Greenleaf."

Was he imagining it, or did his son squeeze back?

Thranduil looked up in shock to see his elfling's eyes open, icy blue so much like his own.

"Ada…?" Legolas whispered, tears forming in his eyes at the sound of his father's eyes.

"Aye, it is me," Thranduil said. "Hello, my little Greenleaf."

THE END

AN: Please take the time to vote on the pole on my profile on what fanfiction I should write next. Your opinion matters! Thanks!


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